The Man With No Face
by GingahNinjah
Summary: The magical world is at war with itself. Creatures are having to choose between their best friends and their families. And behind it all: a dark wizard with more power than the Council has ever seen.
1. Chapter 1

Seven empty caskets. Each one meant a loss for someone out in the crowd. Somehow, the empty caskets were even worse than a filled one. It gave one false hope.

Councilor Kulde stood in front of the caskets, ready to address the crowd. Every Dragon Guardian in the world was here in this room, one for each country. Most were somewhat confused. A few knew exactly what was going on. "Hello friends. It has been awhile since we've gathered here all at once. Unfortunately, it is under grim circumstances that we meet here. There are dark forces at work in the magical world. We may be on the brink of a world wide war." Kulde paused for a moment, pushed a button, and a holographic image appeared next to him. It was a man of terrifying height with a glare that, even in digital form, sent chills down Haley's spine. He wore layers of furs and skins, and his face was covered with a white cloth. But the most terrifying part was his cape. A bright green dragon hide. It's head rested on his shoulder, teeth clenched. "His followers call him 'The Faceless Man'. Yusuf Lee, the dragon of Iraq, met up with him two years ago." He gestured to the hide. "The Faceless Man's identity and motives are yet to be discovered. But he and his follower's methods are quite clear. Many of the darker creatures have joined his cause already, and through fear and threats, he has recruited most of his kind. You may have noticed some empty chairs around you. Some of our best guardian dragons encountered him...not one of them returned." There were a few gasps throughout the audience as they realised what the caskets were for. He walked to the end of the line, to the first casket. "Charlie McDonnell, the dragon of Great Britain." He continued down the line, stopping at each one. "Adèle Chén, the dragon of France. Hans Lǐ, the dragon of Germany. Cecilia Russo, dragon of Italy. Dante Basco, dragon of the Philippines. Daniel Hyoshi, dragon of Japan. Jake Long, dragon of America."

Haley stood up, and walked towards the front. Six others followed. Adèle's father. Charlie's sister Bridie. Hans' brother Liam. Cecilia's mother. Dante's brother Derek. Daniel's mother. Backs to the crowd, they bowed respectively in honour of their loved one and set it aflame. Then they each took their seats in silence.

Haley felt several pairs of eyes follow her as she took her seat. Those who had already heard avoided eye contact. She did her best to ignore it. As if she needed a reminder. She'd seen the battlefield. She'd seen for herself the power of the faceless man.

In all honesty, Haley hadn't accepted his death until she'd seen his coffin burning. There had still been that glimmer of hope, deep inside her, that he had somehow survived that fight. But now, in the light of the flames, she could see that bit of hope she'd held on to for so long go up in smoke. For the first time, she truly felt the loss. He was dead. He wasn't coming back.

_Goodbye Jake._

* * *

**AN: found this in an old notebook while cleaning out my closet except it was MUCH MUCH stupider. Had to sexy it up before it was worthy of human eyes. My brother said it was an impossible task...This was mega short, I just wanted to stop here because all I needed was to introduce the villain and in the next chapter I'll explain what happened to Jake and the other six. I guess you could sort of call this a prologue...sorta.**

**p.s. sorry, I realise (-can't blame that one on Chrome. I always do that) that I spelled some stuff wrong...or right depending on your nationality. I'm using Google Chrome and I accidently set it to ****UK****English so it added a u to several words...and I'm not sure how to change the settings on chrome, so it's staying that way. I _think _I got them all fixed, but if not I'll just be half British.**

**anyway...review? Also, if you notice a reference to something/someone else in here, please say so. I want to see how many people will pick up on that. There's a few.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Sixteen months previous:_

Haley hopped down the steps, meeting Jake at the bottom. "Hey Haley" he greeted her. "Anything interesting happen today?"

"Oh. My. Gosh. You won't believe what Olivia did today. We were painting, and my picture was OBVIOUSLY better than hers. So she picked up a can of paint and dumped it all over it. Then she told the teacher I tripped her so she wouldn't get in trouble. So now I'm going to fail the assignment, AND I'm in trouble for tripping her…not that I didn't _want to_. But I still didn't."

"Well you've got the weekend. Maybe you can get Mom to give you the-" he was cut off by a desperate cry coming from the alley. "Hello?" he called. A sobbing leprechaun came running towards them. His clothes were ragged, he was out of breath, and he kept looking in each direction, as if he expected visitors.

"American Dragon!" he cried, grabbing Jake's knees. "Please…you must help me."

"Brocamas? What is it? Who did this?"

"A wizard...I didn't catch his name...took me gold...he's making weapons...wants more...by the hour or he'll...attack me clan. Please help me! My wife…my kids…" the leprechaun fell to his knees and sobbed into his hands.

"No problem! that fool's gonna get a visit from the AmDrag express, WHOO WHOO! The guy won't know what hit him" Jake said, his cocky side growing ever more evident. Haley rolled her eyes.

Brocamas bowed. "Thank you laddy! You are me hero!"

"Just doing my job. So who was this guy? What did he look like?"

"I…I don't know sir. His face was covered the whole time. The whole thing. Can't imagine how he manages to see with a cloth over his eyes."

Jake's eyes grew wide as the leprechaun described his attacker. "Haley, think you can handle patrol tonight?"

"What? You don't think you're going without me, do you?"

"One of us has to report to Gramp's shop."

"But-"

Jake grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "Please Haley. Wizards are tough stuff. Trust me, I've fought them before. And if this is who I think it is...I…I don't want you getting hurt." He suddenly looked very pale, and his knees were shaking.

"Hurt? What about you?"

"I'll…Everything will be okay." And with that, he shifted into his dragon form and flew down the alley with the leprechaun.

XXX

"Grandpa, I'm here."

"Where's Jake?" Fu asked, not botherng to look up from his computer.

"Some leprechauns asked for his help, so he asked me to take over tonight."

"_Ai-ya!_ Will that boy ever learn to take his job seriously?" Lao Shi went into the back room, but Haley could still hear him ranting about Jake' irresponsibility in Mandarin.

"It sounded real to me. That leprechaun was pretty freaked out. He was hysterical. Though I guess I would be too, if a wizard threatened my family."

"Wizard, huh? Just gotta go and pick on the little guy. Why I oughta-" Fu yelled, eyes still glued to his laptop.

"FU DOG! Since when are you concerned with the leprechauns?"

"Alright, so they owe me some money. Now which one of them is it?" Fu mimicked the motion of an uppercut with one hand, balancing his laptop with the other as he spoke.

"I don't know. The leprechaun said he kept his face covered the whole time."

Fu dropped his laptop, and exchanged a worried glance with Lao Shi. "You gotta go find him."

"Agreed. Fu Dog, call the boy's parents. Haley, show me where he was last."

XXX

Susan hung up the phone, taking long, deep breaths, trying to keep calm. _It's not like this is the first time...He's dealt with worse...right? _Jonathan looked up from the paper and noticed his wife pacing back and forth. "Hey there Huggalump. Something wrong?"

"Jonathan," she said. "Do you remember Yusuf Lee?"

"Well of course I-" he stopped mid-thought, as her expression said it all. "Is he..."

"Dad and Haley are looking for him now. He left after school today."

Jonathan looked at his watch. "It's only been thirty minutes. Maybe they'll get there in time."

"Maybe..."

XXX

Haley landed in front of the alley. Lao Shi followed. "This is where the leprechaun came from." Cautiously, she proceeded down the alley. It was quiet. Any battle that had taken place here had clearly already ended.

Lao Shi stopped, sniffing the air. "Do you smell that?"

Haley followed his example and took a big whiff. At first, she smelled nothing. Then the scent hit her like a ton of bricks. _Blood._ She and Lao Shi took off, following the scent. They came to a stop at the back of the alley, under a sign that read "Pot O' Gold Import-Export" . The door was off it's hinges. The windows were shattered and the ground around them covered in the glass. Haley started for the door, but her grandfather held her back. "Maybe I should go in first." He stopped at the entrance. "Haley," he said. "Let's go home." Haley shoved passed him and ran inside, horrified by what she saw.

Dead. Each and every one of them. Brocamas' entire clan-men, women, and children-dead. Their skulls bashed in, bones exposed. Brocamas lay hunched over a small child, his lower ribs piercing his pudgy stomach, emerald blood trickling from his blue lips.

In the center of the room, the sleeve of Jake's jacket was just barely visible through the bodies. Blood splashing her ankles, she ran towards it, mentally preparing herself for what she might find. But he wasn't there. Just his torn, bloody jacket, and the crimson pool around it.

XXX

"Fu, how could you let him go?" Susan screamed.

"How was I supposed to know the kid would do something stupid?"

"You're his _guardian. _You're supposed to take care of him! Now, thanks to you, my boy's going to be a pair of boots!"

"I-" The bell on the door rang as it opened. "That'll be Gramps." He, Susan, and Jonathan ran back to the front room. Haley was shaking like mad, eyes wide, staring off into the distance. "Did you-" Lao Shi shook his head, and held up the bloody jacket. Susan buried her face in Jonathan's shoulders, and Lao Shi fell to his knees, whispering something in Mandarin that might have even been a prayer.

* * *

**Sorry about making this like a flashback chapter. I always hate when people do that, but I couldn't find another way that it worked.**

**the references: Dante Basco...I was guessing you'd all get that one. And his brother's name is Derek in real life, so I used that name (i updated that chapter. Somehow his name had been changed to Peter...no clue why). Charlie McDonnell-a British youtuber who I LOVE (charlieissocoollike). And Bridie is his sister. And...blast. I forgot what the other one was. Oh well. **

**There's been like...115 hits and only 3 reviews? Come on! I have anonymous reviews enabled, for those of you that were visitors or too lazy to log in. Good? Bad? Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Also, ****when I originally wrote this story I was very obsessed with several book series and movies (what am I saying? I still am), there will continue to be some subtle and not so subtle references throughout the rest of this fanfic, and not just through names like in chapter one. tell me in the reviews if you catch them. **

***also this is back in present time again-close to two years after Hong Kong Longs***

**AND BEGIN!**

The council took their seats on stage, and Andam stood and faced the crowd. "Although it goes without saying, I shall remind everyone that we must be training now more than ever before. Some of you, _you know who you are, _have some catching up to do. If we get word of an attack on Draco Isle, you will be notified, and asked to come assist. Now-" he stopped short, taking note of a hand raised in the ninth row. "You have a question?"

The owner of the hand, a 16 year old girl with waist length golden curls and a pair of aviators, stood. "Yes, what actions will you be taking to prevent another massacre?"

The girl spoke with authority and an accusitory tone. She looked vaguely familiar. "Well, miss..." his voice trailed off, looking for a name.

"Tyler, sir." she finished for him.

"Well, Miss Tyler, I assure you, if there was anything we could do we'd be doing it. The attacks are random. And, in case you haven't noticed, we haven't been so lucky in the past."

"With all due respect, that is absolutely idiotic."

The Councilors did their best to stifle the laughs, but the audience, if they tried at all, didn't fare as well. Blood boiling, Andam replied as calmly as he could: "Oh? And who are you, to question my authority? I have not seen your face around here."

"Rose Tyler. I was a friend of Jake."

"The slayer?"

Rose cringed at the sound of a title from her past life. "Yes sir."

"Well, since my suggestions are _idiotic, _what do you suggest?"

"Well, first of all, the attacks have not been random" she said, as the purple haired child next to her begged her to _'please shut up'. _"The...Faceless Man? He has attacked two leprechaun clans, three unicorn herds, and raided two huntsclan armories. Now, the huntsclan part, I'd assume you can figure out for yourself. As for the leprechauns, he is most likely using their gold to hire help, make weapons, and bribe people into siding with him. Unicorns are one of the most useful magical creatures, second only to dragons. Their horns can be fused with other materials, making them nearly impossible to break. Their blood is a powerful health enhancer. Their hair not only sells for large quantities on the black market, where he's probably getting most of his supplies, but is used enhances magical qualities in spells and potions. And the hide of a unicorn will go for thousands, if you know who to go to. It seems pretty obvious to me that these targets were chosen due to their versatility."

Andam did his best to ignore her air of superiority, and not to come across the same way when pointing out her error. "You only named the seven where there were dragons involved. What do you, _oh wise one,_ make of the earlier ones?" He didn't do so well on that...

"See, I thought you might bring that up. So I looked into it. Most of those sightings were near large settlements of Sphinxes. When your enemies are dragons, hunting sphinx is the only logical thing to do." She lowered her sunglasses to the tip of her nose, the way reporters do when asking rhetorical questions.

"But how does this information change the fact that none of our kind seem to be able to face him?"

"It doesn't. But there is one thing that might. In each case, there was very little time for preparation. The enemy had the element of surprise. If, by chance, they decided to attack Draco Isle, the fight may very well be over by the time reinforcements come. I suggest you send out agents to survey the area and look out for any sign of him. Our only chance is to find out who this guy is, and attack him while he's at home."

Andam opened his mouth to object, and closed it again. She was right. _A teenage girl is showing me up..._

"Also," she continued. "this isn't just your fight. There are plenty of other species who are being affected by this. Even some humans. Let them help you. I suggest you expand the island's training grounds to accommodate for these other magical creatures. And perhaps you could bring some knowing humans in. Some of them may actually be of assistance to you. I'm sure I could round some up."

"Are you volunteering your services?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. I think I know where to start." she said, peering over the rim of her sunglasses.

"Are you _quite _finished?" Andam asked in exasperation.

"Yes, yes I am." and then she and her cocky grin sat back down.

"Well...I suppose I have nothing of value to say. You are dismissed." Andam said awkwardly, and everyone got up to leave.

Rose was chuckling to herself as Andam paced back and forth, counting down from 100. "Rose, what were you _thinking?" _Haley stared at her for a moment, and than burst out laughing along with her. "Okay, it was hilarious. So what did you mean '_I know where to start_'? You're just about the only human I know that would be useful."

"I have a theory. You see, the huntsclan aren't at every hospital. So there are some that are missed at birth."

"But then they wouldn't have been trained at all, so it won't do much good."

"Ah, but they will. Because I found them...or some of them any way. When I was in kindergarten, there was this boy named Damian McCoy. He saw my birthmark, and got all excited because he had the same one. I ran home and told my 'uncle' that his shoulder matched my hand. That night, he took the poor kid from his bed and shipped him off to the academy. Thing is, if I hadn't found him, he never would have been taken. But if I'm right, he should have a double past as I do. So he's still around, and has eleven years of huntsclan training."

"But that's only one kid."

"Yes, but there was also the girl at summer camp, and the friend of hers she told me about, who I then proceeded to tell the Huntsmaster about. And one last one, a girl I met in the second grade. The same should hold true for them."

"Four of them? Think you can find them?"

"I'll look into it tonight" she promised.

XXX

Haley dropped Rose off outside her bedroom window. As quietly as one can open a squeaky window, she snuck in, and headed for the closet to swap out her jeans for pjs. As she was about to change, the light switch clicked, the room lit up, and she could see her parents standing in the doorway - tapping their feet, impatiently waiting for an explanation. _I'm dead. _Sighing loudly, her mother gestured for her to sit. "Now...I'm going to remain calm. All I want is for you-"

"TO EXPLAIN WHERE ON EARTH YOU HAVE BEEN!" her father interjected.

"now Steve-"

"SNEAKING OUT, BREAKING CURFEW - BY SIX HOURS NO LESS. WERE YOU MEETING A BOY ROSE? WHAT'S HIS NAME? I-"

"STEVE! For heavens sake! SHHHH! You wanna wake the neighborhood? The _last _thing I want at 4 am is a bunch of people screaming at me in Chinese!"

"Dad, I can explain!" Rose exclaimed.

"Okay, flatter me" he said. Wait, what exactly would she say? _"Sorry dad, I was at a meeting for a war you know nothing about, planning how to kill a wizard who killed 7 dragons, including the boyfriend you didn't know I had." Yeah...that'll work._

"I...was at a funeral. For Jake, my-" _oh wait, he doesn't know about Jake. _"My friend's brother. I needed to be there for her."

"At FOUR in the MORNING?"

"Well I...forget it. Just ground me."

The head of her twin sister appeared in the doorway. "Could you guys keep it down?"

"Lily, just go back to bed. Rose, we'll talk in the morning" her mother replied, pulling her husband out the door.

Lily sat down on the bed with her. "Sorry I couldn't cover for you. I tried, but once eleven hit I ran out of excuses. Where were you anyway?"

"I already told you. I had a meeting with the committee I belong to. We had some things to discuss."

"Why didn't you just tell mom that?"

"Well...it wasn't exactly local. And I'm sure Mom's school night policy includes international travel."

"International? Where in hell did you go?" Rose, ignoring her question, went to her desk and pulled out her laptop. Peering over her shoulder, Lily saw her pull up the yellow pages and type in an area code. "Manhattan? Who do you need to talk to there?"

Rose scrolled down to "McCoy". "Shit, how many McCoys can there be?" she mumbled, scanning through the fifty hits. Limiting the search to McCoys in her old school district, the list was cut down to six. "Much better" she said, hitting print. Lily watched as she repeated the process with the name Colton. Then she pulled up a picture from their first grade summer camp and scanned through the names at the bottom until she found the two she wanted, and found their last names online as well. After printing off the last two lists, she grabbed all four papers from the printer, and ran down stairs to her dad's home office, dialing Haley's number.

"Rose? You _just _got back. Did you already find something?"

"Get a pencil ready. I have the names." She read each of them off, along with their phone numbers.

"Dang Rose, I thought you said there was only four!"

"There is. But I can't be sure which one is right. I need you to call each of them and find out where Damian, Alex, Jessica, and Eric are. I can't afford to call them, we don't have long distance. I'm lucky I had enough to call you."

"Okay, I'll get on this as soon as I can. Bye Rose."

"Bye Haley." Rose hung up the phone and headed up to her room to get a few hours of sleep before school.

**Love it? Hate it? Think it should be longer? Review!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own ADJL. I don't own the book I reference throughout this chapter (see if you catch it! It's sort of obvious...but only if you've read it, or seen the movie.) **

**I also have recently seen several stories with similar aspects on this site. I'm sorry I 'stole' an idea of yours, but I promise you it was unintentional. *update: yeah mess up in Lamos' line "my name is arthur arthur arthur" has been fixed. **

* * *

Arthur Spudinski walked in the front door and slid his backpack off his shoulder. Striding into the kitchen, he grabbed a bag of corn chips and headed straight for his playstation. He'd had a long day, and was ready to blow off some Rotwood steam on Nazi zombies.

"Arthur? Are you home?" his mom shouted from the other room.

"Mother, I'm busy!" he yelled, gaining several colorful comments from the people on the other side of his game.

"There's someone here to see you!"

Taking care to move his headset out of the way this time, he shouted back "Tell 'em to wait. I'm in the middle of the game!"

"ARTHUR!" Spud flinched, dropped his controller, and was shot to pieces. Frustrated, he stormed into the other room.

"What do you want? You got me killed!"

His mother opened her mouth to protest, but before she got the chance, the man in the corner who Spud had been to furious to notice before spoke up. "Arthur P. Spudinski, Arthur Arthur Arthur..." he went on, repeating his name.

"Um...you can call me Spud...if you want."

"Spud. Have you ever noticed something strange happening around you? Ever just get really lucky? Have a day where everything just goes your way?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Spud-"

Spud began rambling like an idiot. "Cuz that twenty I found on the street-"

"Spud-"

"It had been there for weeks! No one would-" His voice grew higher and higher as he spoke.

"SPUD! Let the man speak!" his mother finally interjected.

"Thank you, Mrs. Spudinski. What I was _trying _to tell you is that you're a wizard."

Spud looked back to his game. "Well I _am _pretty good...but I wouldn't call myself a _wizard _per se. More like...a virtuoso. Or a-"

"_Spud! _Just, _listen. _You're a wizard, Spudy."

He looked him over from head to toe. "What you just said there...you reminded me of someone. You know what this scene is missing? A fat kid with a tail and a thunderstorm. Oh, and you need an umbrella...and a beard. A big bushy one. What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't say."

"Well what is it then?"

"David Lamos."

"Well hello there David"

"Call me Mr. Lamos."

"Well Mr. Lumos, if you don't mind, I'll be getting back to my game. Can't keep 'em waiting too long. After all..." he started for the door, and then looked back over his shoulder with a smirk on his face. "I am a wizard."

"_No, _Spud." Lamos grabbed him by the shoulder. "You're not understanding. _You..._are a _wizard._" He reached inside his coat and pulled out a long, slender black object...A stick? "It's been calling you. For years now. But the wizard council was afraid you weren't ready. Some argued...that you never would."

Spud hesitantly reached for the "stick". "What is this?"

"It is a-sorry, _your _wand."

Spud was speechless. Finally understanding, he took the wand-his wand, rolling it around in his fingers gently, looking over each and every inch. He gave it a swish, watching the colorful sparks fly from the tip. "It's true...I'm a wizard." Then he gave Mr. Lamos a very strange look and said "shouldn't you be carrying a cake?"

* * *

Haley skipped into Canal Street Electronics, pumped, and ready for training. As she opened the door, a small child hopped off the couch and ran over to her, jumping up and down with excitement. "Is this her? Is this her? Is this her?"

Sun laughed. "Yes Meagan, that is Haley." Meagan cheered some more.

"Sun," Haley started, "what exactly is going on?" She pried the kid off of her leg, grabbed a soda from the mini-fridge, and headed for the couch.

"Haley, this is Meagan Green. She is your new student."

"_St-st-st-tudent?_" Haley sputtered, choking up Pepsi onto the floor.

"The council decided to assign new students to those active in protection of magical creatures."

_"Why?_"

"Well, many of the senior dragons have passed their responsibilities onto their students, so they are a bit out of touch. The council figures this way they'll see more action and it will teach responsibility to the new teachers."

Haley eyed the kid. "She's like...six! They think she's ready for training?"

Meagan stamped her foot. "I'm almost seven! And I am ready. I've had my powers for three months now." _Three months? I had to wait until I was nine!_

_"_Fine, I'll take the kid. So what are we doing today, Sun?_"_

_"_Just your usual rounds for today. Your grandfather and I have a meeting with the councilors to go to. We'll meet back with you later. Ready Lao-Shi?"

"Ready!" Lao Shi and Sun transformed and flew out the door, leaving Haley to deal with her new nuisance.

Haley hopped onto the couch and put her feet up. "So, tell me about yourself."

Meagan stared at her, looking her over from top to bottom, stopping on the purple streak in her hair. "Did you know purple isn't a natural hair color?"

Haley rolled her eyes. "Yes, actually, I was aware of that."

"Then why is your hair purple? I always thought you shouldn't die your hair colors that don't look natural. Then everyone can tell you dyed it."

"Maybe I like it that way."

Upon further inspection, Meagan noticed Haley was wearing her brother's jacket. "There's a hole in your jacket, did you know?" She leaned in closer, eyebrows raised. "Is that _blood?_" All the blood had come out...or almost. You could really only see it if you looked really close.

Haley jumped up off the couch, ignoring her question, and gestured towards the door. "Shall we go then?" The kid shifted into a little yellow dragon and followed Haley outside.

"So where are we going?"

Haley flew up onto the roof. "Since you say you're ready, how about it? Let's see what you've got."

"What, I'll be fighting you then?"

"Yup. Unless you're scared" she grinned over her shoulder.

Meagan shook her head. "No way."

"Good."

* * *

Halfway across the city, Arthur Spudinski and Mr. Lamos walked downtown at a very fast pace. "Mr. Lumos sir, where exactly are we going?" Spud panted, struggling to keep up with him.

"It's Lamos. LAY-MOS. Get it right." he barked.

"Yeah yeah yeah, listen Lumos; am I going to learn magic today or what?"

"Patience, young Spudinski. All in due time."

"So-"

"Silence, Mr. Spudinski. Please."

Spud followed behind him silently. They headed into Center Stage, one of the older dance studios in the city. The lights were dim, and the place appeared to be empty. Lamos led him into the back, into a small dance classroom. Mirrors lined the surrounding walls, so in each wall he could see the reflection of a woman sitting in the middle. She sat in a meditative state, her back towards them. She wore long robes and a veil covering her face. _Must be some face if she's covering it up._ In Spud's experience, pretty ladies never covered their faces. Pretty ladies, or even the decent ones, wore their faces proudly. In fact, as he thought about it more, he realised most girls with veils he'd ever met hadn't been human. _What have I gotten myself into? _"Hello David. It's been a long time."

"I promised you a student years ago. And I'm finally going to deliver." Lamos gave Spud a shove in her direction and took a step back.

Spud looked back at the man who'd dragged him from his home to come to a dance studio. "Uh...Mr. Lumos? I didn't sign up for dance class. Trixie talked me out of that ages ago."

"Silence Spud. Malora will explain everything."

She stood and slowly turned around, raising the veil. Spud had been wrong. The girl was gorgeous. Drop-dead, freakin gorgeous! Couldn't have been more than eighteen. A curtain of dark brown hair fell to her waist, framing a soft, pale face spotted with subtle freckles. An aura of peace surrounded her, as if she could wash all your troubles away. She was skinny, petite, but not in the teenage-girl-who-never-eats sort of way. _Ooooh Malora! Daaaang look at those legs! Most girls would kill for those legs. And those- _"Spud! You're drooling!" Lamos half whispered, half shouted into his ear, waking him up. He muttered an apology and focused on her eyes. Just her eyes. He didn't want his eyes to wander...elsewhere. He'd learned that girls don't appreciate that.

"Arthur P. Spudinski" she said softly, walking circles around him. "Age sixteen. Best friends with Trixie Carter. Plays video games, eats onions as if they were apples, and-to the annoyance of your teachers-fails nearly every class. The smartest boy of his age, yet you hide it behind layers of monkeys and cheese." She yanked his collar, pulling him in closer. "Haven't you ever wondered why? Why you're afraid to be special in any way? Why every time you're noticed; every time someone calls you out on your brains, you push them away with silly songs and unicycles? Well let me tell you something, Spudinski." She leaned in even closer, her forehead resting on his, and whispered "it's because you _are _special."

"He told me already-"

"No. He told you _what _you are. He didn't tell you _who_" she said, pushing him back a step and circling him again.

"Are you going to tell me then?"

"No. _That, _you will have to discover on your own."

* * *

"Dodge it Meagan! You'll never last in a real fight if you can't dodge a simple hit" Haley instructed as she sent a rather large fireball Meagan's way.

"I can't!" she whined, as it hit her square in the chest.

"Then try harder!"

"Can't we take a break? Pleeeeeaase?" Meagan begged, pulling out all her tricks. The teary eyes. The pouty lips. The disgustingly adorable whimpering. That was Haley's trick. Or at least it had been. _I hate growing up. Eleven years old and suddenly I'm an adult, I'm a trainer, and I'm not adorable enough to get away with everything anymore. Ugh! _

Staring at her puppy-dog face, she finally gave in. "Fine. Be back here in ten minutes flat." Meagan went back inside, leaving Haley by alone to set up a system of targets; ones that fought back. If this girl wanted to fight, then by golly, she'd give her a fight.

* * *

Malora, having finally finished inspecting Spud, took her seat in the middle of the room again. "Sit down Spud" she commanded.

Spud however, just stood there, more confused than when he'd arrived. "What did you mean by all that stuff? About...being special?"

"Spud, you've got magic in your blood. Deep down inside, you've always known it. You just hadn't quite realised it yet. But in your subconscious, where you knew all about it, you were afraid. When your powers kicked in it was strange. It was different. You didn't have anyone to explain it to you. So instincts took over and did the only thing they could. Forget about it. Bury it, deep inside your subconscious. But that wasn't enough. Because while you remained blissfully unaware of your magical ability, your magical aura remained, which attracts people, magical and mortal. They can just tell that something is different about you. So you resorted to warding people off with false stupidity and annoying habits. It was quite convincing really. You even had yourself convinced that you were nothing special."

"But how can I be? I mean, maybe I am a wizard. I can understand that. But even then. There's tons of them out there. What makes me different?"

"You can be better than all of them, if you just trust me."

Lamos cleared his throat rather loudly, calling the attention off of Spud and onto himself. "Malora, do you really believe that this boy-"

"I do" she said firmly. "Just look at him."

"He's magical alright, but not _magical _magical."

"I beg to differ. He's got something that's hard to come by in wizards."

"And what would that be?"

"Imagination."

* * *

**Yup, so Spud is a wizard...yeah I know alot of people have done that now, but whatever. I didn't know that until after I wrote this (the first time. which was several years ago, before I'd even seen that one with the genius institute. I was just thinking of his Grammy telling him stories of mermaids) Anyway...**

**Fudogg: Well the way I see it, the Huntsclan had to have missed a few here and there. They couldn't possibly get them all right? Well they could...but then I wouldn't have as much to work with. So if they weren't taken at birth like Rose was, and the only reason they ended up in the Hunsclan was because of Rose, then they'd end up like her too right? I mean, you can't change one person's past without effecting a bunch of people's. So then when Jake changed Rose's past, and made it so she never was in the huntsclan, then he would have made it so they weren't either. So they'd still have the mark, like Rose did, but wouldn't technically be Hunsclan so they wouldn't be sucked up into the vortex just like she wasn't even though she had the mark. I don't know if that made any sense at all...I sorta rambled a bit...but in my head I made sense of it. Anyway, they'll come up next chapter.**

**okay I'll shut up now. ;) Thanks for reading and, as always, REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

Haley hung up the phone for the last time, extremely relieved to be done with awkward phone calls to strangers. She had called from school to make sure none of them would actually be home, and thankfully her teacher hadn't found it to be too suspicious. Now she had successfully located all four huntsmen.

She slipped into the alley beside her school, shifted into her dragon form and headed for the magical elevator.  
The doors opened, and Rose walked out. "Got them?"

Haley held up the papers with circled names. "Yup. What's the plan?"

"Their huntsclan training is buried in their subconscious. If we can put them in a situation where their training would be needed, maybe we can get them to remember."

"But if they remember their huntsclan training, they'll remember hating all magical creatures, so they wouldn't exactly be thrilled to help a bunch of dragons!"

"We'll - "

"Haley! Don't worry! I'm here!" A midget sized yellow dragon crashed into Haley, knocking her to the ground. They both turned human, got up, and brushed them selves off - Haley muttering angrily to herself as she did. "Sorry about that! I was going too fast and - "

"Yeah whatever. Rose, this is Meagan. She's my new pain in the-I mean my new...student? She's suppossed to follow me around _everywhere I go, _and hopefully learn something. Sun said I'd be a good role model for her..." she batted her eyes dramatically and flipped her hair. "No idea why she'd think that." she said, struggling to keep a straight face. After laughing off her 'modesty', she said "sorry, but we will have to take her along with us. Where ever I go, she goes."

Rose stared at Meagan. "This gives me an idea..."

* * *

Damian McCoy slid into his usual seat in the detention hall, thankful that his teacher had been even later than him. Most days, Mr. Buckley extended the detention to accommodate for the new tardy.

Damian had been in detention every night for six straight weeks, and he still had two more to go. Slam a substitute teacher into a desk _one time _and you're stuck with a crotchety old man every night for all of eternity. It wasn't even his fault! The sub snuck up on him! It was just...instinct? He wasn't even sure how he learned to do that. But wouldn't buy the 'it was an accident' speech, so he was stuck with him.

Speaking of old Buckley, where was he? Damian had been late today by a record thirty minutes, and had now been here an additional fifteen. Detention was nearly over and the teacher never showed up. Damian got up and slowly walked over to his desk, ready to jump back at moments notice if Buckley were to appear. He looked over his desk for any indication that something had come up - a reminder on his calender, an appointment in his schedule book, a note on the pad by his phone - but found nothing. He peered out the door at Buckley's usual social spot, but it was void of life entirely. Everyone else had gone home. On his way back inside, he checked the door, but like the desk, it was free of "Damian please report to room so-and-so" notes.

Anxious to get home, he decided to leave a note for Mr. Buckley proving he was here. He rummaged through Buckley's desk searching for a bit of scratch paper, but couldn't find any, so he took the ring of keys from the top drawer and - through trial and error - successfully unlocked the closet. He pulled the door open and promptly clamped his hands over his mouth to muffle the scream.

Mr. Buckley was propped up against the shelf, his hands tied behind his back and a dust rag tied around his mouth as a gag. He had a huge bruise on the top of his head, and he was out cold.

Damian backed away slowly, never taking his eyes off his unconscious teacher. _I'm going to get expelled. Everyone will think I did this! _Racking his brain for solutions, he decided to untie him so it would look like he just hit his head. He ran back into the closet and cut through the rope with the keys. Just as he got the gag off, the door shut and the lights went out. Someone grabbed him from behind, their arms wrapped around his neck.

Damian grabbed their wrist and flipped them off his shoulder into the door. The door tore away from its hinges, and fell to the ground along with the attacker - a tall, slender woman clad in a blood red ninja suit. She carried a glowing blue staff and a terrifying gaze. The ninja rolled back up on to her feet and ignited her staff. Damian jumped up onto the shelf as green beams shot from the staff.

The ninja wrapped her legs around his neck and flipped him into the wall. He jumped up and ran for the door, but the girl shot him from behind with her staff. He fell to the ground, and as he slipped into unconsciousness, he heard the girl laugh.

XXX

Several hours had passed before Damian finally awoke. He was sore all over, and had a pounding headache. He found that during his sleep, he had been moved into a small round room with no doors or windows and, to his embarrassment, the ninja girl had stripped him down to his boxers.

It still didn't make sense. A _ninja _took out his teacher and hid in the closet? Then she took him...where exactly? The room was about six feet tall, just tall enough to stand in, and about six feet wide. As far as he could tell, there was no hidden latches or doors. There was absolutely no way out.

A few inches from where his head had been was a blood red ninja suit - an exact match to the one the girl wore, complete with mask with the same orange insignia on it. He felt as though he had seen the symbol before, but that was sort of impossible, so he pushed the thoughts aside. Feeling it would be less awkward if he were clothed when his captor returned, he put the suit on and stuck the mask in his pocket.

Suddenly, the room began to shake, and it felt as though it was shooting upwards. The room came to a sudden stop, knocking Damian off his feet. The walls lowered into the floor and behind them were thick steel bars. The cage, along with the three other cages, sat on what looked like a battle arena. The pit was littered with bones that were far larger than anything natural.

A loud, authoritative voice boomed across the arena. "Welcome friends. Today, I bring you to a place I hope you all find familiar. You may notice this is a battle arena. Here is your enemy - the dragon!"

The doors on the cages opened, and Damian ran out to the center of the arena to meet the other three teens. There were two girls and one boy, all close to his age, all clad in matching ninja suits, all equally confused and scared.

Something pink flew overhead with a flash of fire. It landed on the other end of the arena and stayed just long enough for him to get a good look at it. It was some kind of pink scaly beast, with purple spikes running up its tail all the way up the back, leading to big pink wings. Damian had the strangest feeling he'd seen it before.

The...dragon? took off and began flying laps around the arena shooting fire balls at the group. Damian and the other kids scrambled to dodge the attacks, taking cover under the various ribcages.

_If we just hide, that beast will roast us all. _Damian took a deep breath and ran out from his hiding place and towards the girl closest to him. "We have to team up to take this thing down, or it will pick us off one by one!"

The girl looked up at the dragon, biting her lip. "I suppose you're right...but we don't have a way to fight it!"

"I'm sure there is something we can do. What are you good at?"

"I've been in martial arts since I was a kid, but what good does that do against a...a monster?"

"Let's get the others first. Then we can figure something out." Damian and the girl ran to the guy a few yards away.

"Daniel!" she tackled the boy to the ground, knocking him out of the way of a large fire ball. They got up off the ground and ran for cover with Damian.

"Alex Colton, why is it that where ever there's fire, you show up?" Daniel asked.

"Someone has to keep you from getting burnt" the girl - apparently named Alex - smirked.

Daniel turned to Damian. "Nice time to make friends, huh?" He shook his hand and said "I'm Daniel Aristan."

"Damian McCoy."

The last girl ran over to join them. "Thanks for the invite..." she mumbled. "Sandi Shuman. Now what's the plan?"

They all mumbled introductions once again and began to survey the arena. "There! The ninja girl who brought me here carried one of those staffs. They shoot these green beams out of the head...I know that sounds crazy..." Damian stammered.

"We're dressed as ninjas being attacked by a pink flying thing of ledgend, which is currently trying to cook us alive" Daniel grinned. "Nothing seems crazy at this point."

Damian led the way, and each took a staff. "Spread out and shoot it down!"

Daniel ran out and jumped up onto the giant ribcage and began taking shots at the beast. Alex ran out with him and started shooting it from the other side of the arena. Sandi and Damian were left alone under their hiding place. Damian noticed a small balcony on the opposite end of the arena. "I think that's where the voice came from" he said.

He and Sandi ran to the end of the arena and, pulling out some mad ninja moves he didn't know he had, he jumped up onto the balcony with Sandi where he found the ninja girl. Sandi pointed her staff at her neck. A look of confusion came across her face and was slowly replaced by an expression of realisation. "Huntsgirl?"

A slow applaud echoed across the arena. The ninja girl stood on the rails behind them, clapping her hands dramatically. Damian shot back around, where the ninja girl he and Sandi had been attacking still was - frozen in the same position and expression, the image flickering a bit.

"A hologram" she explained. "Sandi, do you remember this?"

"Yes. How did I forget this? Damian! Don't you remember this? You were in my class! We were lab partners!"

"What are you talking about? I've never seen you before this!"

Ninja Girl hopped down from the railing and looked him straight in the eye. "Yes you have! You both were in my class at this academy two years ago." She backflipped off the balcony and ran towards the others. Sandi followed, and Damian reluctantly did the same.

As he joined them, he heard Daniel and Alex expressing their confusion on how they'd forgotten such a place.

Ninja Girl approached him. "I can tell you're still not getting it."

"No, actually, I think I have. This is all an illusion, isn't it? You drugged us or something, and now we're seeing things! And that dragon, where ever it went, was just a hologram wasn't it? Just like you were. We weren't in any danger!"

She rolled her eyes. "No I didn't drug you, no this isn't an illusion, and while you're right that you were in no danger, the dragon was completely real."

Damian stared at her in disbelief. Was she really crazy enough to think he'd believe that? "Who are you?"

"Rose Tyler. Former apprentice to the Huntsmaster, 2nd in command - now 1st in his absence. But you knew me better as Huntsgirl."

"No, seriously."

"I'm being completely serious."

"Prove it."

"You are Damian McCoy. You have a dragon birthmark on your right shoulder, which everyone always thinks is a tattoo. We met in Kindergarten, where we became friends based entirely on our matching birthmarks." she pulled her glove off, revealing the dragon birthmark that wound around her wrist. "It is the mark of a Slayer. A warrior. The Huntsclan was an organization founded by wearers of the mark."

"Okay, _Huntsgirl. _So tell me. Where are these _Hunsclan _now?"

"Dead. All of them. I wiped them from existence."

"And why don't I remember this?"

"Because a friend of mine changed history so that I would have a normal life, which changed your life as well. Because I wasn't in the Huntsclan, neither were you. But the universe won't let us get rid of a timeline completely, so it created a duplicate. One where you spent your childhood training to kill unicorns, and one where you spent it playing xbox and baseball. The other one still exists. You just have to remember it."

Damian wanted to believe her. Something inside him just told him she wasn't lying. He thought back to Kindergarten. Now that he thought about it, there had been a girl named Rose in his class. That little blonde girl...they sat together during snack time. She'd shown him her birthmark, and he showed her his...just like she said. Then he'd gone home, and that was that. Nothing strange there. No ninjas.

But...there was that dream...

When he was younger, he would have nightmares nearly every night of a scary man in a red suit coming into his room. He wore a skull as a mask, and he spoke with a deep, menacing voice. He'd always say "It's time for you to come home, Damian." Then he would take him from his bed and fly out through the window.

Every night it was the same. These dreams lasted for months on end, before finally they were forgotten.

Was that man somehow connected to this mysterious Rose Tyler? He looked over the man in his head. He wore the same red ninja suit, and carried a similar staff. _His belt!_On his belt had been the same orange insignia as on her mask, as well as the one he'd been given. That couldn't be a coincidence, could it? That dream...what happened after the man took him away? He always woke up before he could see...or did he? He could remember one night in particular, when the dream had continued...That man had taken him to a stadium...shown him some sort of fight...between some sort of flying beast and a young boy...a dragon! The boy had killed the dragon after a matter of minutes, and the crowd cheered. "This is your destiny Damian. Do you understand?" Then what? It was all a blur...he could only catch glimpses of things he didn't completely understand. A class room full of teens dressed in red. An arena full of dead unicorns. Dissecting a leprechaun.

Then he saw his classmates being lifted inth the sky and just...vanishing. And then...nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just a blank, empty space...

He remembered! Everything! How could he forget 10 years of Huntsclan training?

"You remember?"

Damian nodded. "But...I remember being here for my thirteenth birthday...here in the arena...but I was at home! I had a party at home..."

"I've got the same problem. It can be a bit confusing at times, but you'll get used to it" Rose explained. She turned back to address the group. "Right, so now that we're all on the same page, I have a few people I'd like you to meet."

She hit a switch and the door behind her opened. A small group of people, of many different ages came out, looking a bit apprehencive. "Here we have Meagan Green, Haley Long, Bridie McDonnel, Derek Basco, Hunter Steele, Fred Nerk, and Amy Williams. Each of them have always wanted to join the Huntsclan, but were denied entry. We are going to let them train with us."

* * *

**Hi hi. So...I haven't updated in a long time...I had finals and then I was at a wedding and then we kept showing our house so I never was around my laptop and blah blah blah excuses excuses I didn't give up! I just never had time. Since it's been so long since chapter 1, I'll remind you that Derek and Bridie are siblings of Dante and Charlie who were killed by OhSoScaryWizardyMan**

**sidenote: I don't know if anyone will remember, but in chapter 3 I had Rose's last name as 'Whitman' but as I was reading other fanfics for ideas, I noticed that is the name just about everyone uses, and I'm crazy so it bugged me. So now her last name is Tyler - which isn't any more original really, but in terms of adjl it certainly is. **

***Disclamer: I don't own the name Rose Tyler, or Amy Williams - though I am unsure if the real fictional owner of that name is Amy Williams or Amy Pond...it's never really been clarified. (Any one know which name is correct?****) Also although I am using the names of a few real life people, this in no way reflects on them - this is clearly fiction. Charlie McDonnel is obviously a robot, not a dead dragon! **

_Taylor, no one else knows what you're talking about._

**_Yeah, well that's not my fault!_**

_Maybe you should stop referencing random YouTubers. It would be less awkward for all of us._

**_NEVER!_**

_Then at least cut back on the Sci-F__i show references._

**_I refuse._**

_Fine. Everyone can just ignore them then if they don't get them._

**_I expect nothing less._**

_You're mental._

**_Exactly._**

**Bye! I send cyberhugs to all of you who leave a review. I send Dementors to those who don't!**

_Taylor, not everyone knows that that is._

**_If they don't review, they will find out soon enough! Mwahahaha_**

**It's 1:00 am, please forgive me for that!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So sorry this took SO FREAKIN LONG to post. I had a week long summer camp, then a week spent in Provo for EFY, and I've been in the middle of a move. I'm NOT stopping it. I WILL finish this, and I will try to establish a more regular scheduele, now that we're all moved in and I'm back on my side of the country.**

**I felt that it was time to actually get to the point in which my summary described...now I don't really know how to go about that...I knew the beginning of the story, and I know the end...getting there is a different story. Any suggestions on how next chapter should go?**

**Anyway...on with the chapter.**

**This is not my best work...I apologize in advance.**

"So..._you're_ going to teach me wizardry?" Spud asked _again. _

"Yes, Spud. _I _am your teacher."

"But...you're not a wizard..." he said, before thinking the worst. "Wait...you're _not _a wizard...right?"

"Spudinski, are you honestly so thick as to believe magic is a strictly male subject?"

"You're not answering my question..." he prodded.

"_No, _I am _not _a man!"

"But have you ever been a - "

"No!"

"Just making sure...I've had dreams like this before. Everything seems great and then I find out the prett-never mind..."

Ignoring the almost-compliment and the questioning of her testosterone levels, Malora pressed onwards. "Spud, we will start with the basics. Wand movements."

"_Really? _That's my big exciting first lesson?"

"We must ensure you know what you're doing to avoid any unnecessary injuries. Now take out your wand."

Spud reached for his wand in his back pocket, surprised to know it wasn't there. Neither was it in the front of his pants, or in the side pocket, or stuffed into his shoe. "Uh..."

"Looking for this?" Malora slid his wand out of her sleeve with a mischievous grin he didn't think she was capable of. "Lesson one. Don't let it out of your sight. Your wand is your life Arther. Try not to lose it. Now, show me how you would hold it."

Spud took his wand from her and held it as he usually held his trick one, feeling quite awkward as he did.

"No, no, no. You're holding it far too high. Lower your grip. You will have more control. And loosen your grip as well. Your concentration should be on the spell, not holding the wand. Now, the motion is fairly simple. For shorter incantations, it is simply a fick of the wrist. For longer ones, let the magic build while you make a sideways motion as if conducting."

"Swish and flick?"

"_Yes."_

"Like Flitwick taught me!"

Malora rolled her eyes for what felt like the thousandth time. "Focus Spud. Repeat the motion fifty times."

"_Fifty?" _

"Incorrect motion will cause in unpredictable results. I would prefer you leave these lessons with all of your toes."

Spud grumbled to himself as he obeyed. Fifty 'swish and flick's later, he mumbled "Now do we use spells?"

A split second later, Spud felt something slam into his torso, sending him flying into the wall behind him. "Watch you tone, student."

He brushed himself off, rubbing the tender spot on the back of his head, and headed back over.

"What would you like to learn?"

"You're letting me choose? Okay...levitation!"

Malora flicked her wand in his direction and said "_oririum". _Instantly, he found himself rising from the floor. Flailing his limbs like crazy, he screamed for her to let him down.

"Now try it for yourself."

Trying to keep in mind what she said about holding it, he pulled out his wand and muttered the spell. His teacher rose about two inches from the floor - doing so much more gracefully than Spud - before dropping down again.

"Good, Spud. Now do it again."

* * *

Several weeks went by, and Spud was beginning to become quite an accomplished young wizard. He now knew and had mastered several defensive spells, many offensive, and a few that did no good in battle but were entertaining nonetheless.

Haley had been sucessful as well...or at least a twisted version of sucessful. She and the other dragons had gained the trust of the clan, and a few had even begun exclusivly dating - despite Rose's warnings.

They were still "training" when the call came. No Face was headed for the island.

Haley pulled Bridie to the side. "He's coming. We only have a few hours."

"What? Already? But they're not ready! They still think they're training to skin our hides!"

"I know, I know. Are there any of them you think _are _ready?"

Bridie looked over the group. "Well...Alex seemed a bit hesitant when Rose started talking about how to kill a troll. And I'm sure I could get Damian to side with me. I've had him drooling over me since day 2."

"Really?"

"By the time we finished killing that digital witch he'd asked me out twice."

"What did you say?"

"We're going out this Friday."

"Bridie!"

"What? He's cute..."

"And he wants to kill you!"

"Maybe not...I mean maybe he'll change his mind."

"I guess we'll find out now...gosh, you're worse than my brother!"

Haley grabbed Fred and Hunter and pulled them over as well. "It's time."

"Are we ready?"

"Nope. Now let's go."

They went to the front, the rest of the dragons joining them as they did. "Rose, it's time" Fred said.

Rose put down her staff. "Oh! Well...take it away then."

Bridie stepped up. "Hello! Your attention, please!" Everyone dropped what they were doing and turned to her. "Hi, um...we, uh...have a bit of a confession to make. We didn't come here because we wanted to be in the huntsclan. We came here because...we need your help. You see...there is this bloke who's been causing a bit of trouble for our lot - a wizard who calls himself The Faceless Man. He has killed many people, including seven friends of ours...one of them being my brother. Do you think you can help us?"

"Of course we can help! Right guys?" said Damian.

The other clan members mumbled to each other. "I suppose..." said Alex.

"What do you mean by 'our lot'. What is your lot?" asked Daniel.

"Okay...before we show you, just understand that it's not what it looks like. It doesn't have to change anything between us." Bridie stepped back with the rest, and at once they shifted into dragons.

The four of them jumped back; their expressions somewhere between confusion and anger.

"We know you'll be angry with us, and you may not want anything to do with us...just please consider it. We'll be back in a few hours. Be here if you decide to help."

"And if we don't?" asked Alex.

Rose, who was dramatically leaning up against the wall behind them, grinned. "Then I take you down."

"You're outnumbered."

"Nothing I haven't done before."

* * *

Haley flew into Jake's room through the window. Everything was exactly the way he'd left it. The homework assignments that were never turned in. The pizza boxes shoved under the bed. The tangled video game controllers strewn across the room.

There was a light tapping on the window. Meagan. She opened the window and let the kid in. "Hey Haley! Are you ready to go?"

Haley sat on the edge of his bed and sighed. "Of course not."

"Is this your room? Funny. You always struck me as a neat freak."

"_No, _this isn't my room. It's my brother's."

"_Dang, _would it kill him to straighten up every once in a while?"

"Hey! It's not Jake's fault. He was just really busy."

"Was?"

"Well...come on, let's go! Let me just grab my jacket." Haley grabbed Jake's jacket off his bed and headed for the window.

"Why do you wear that jacket anyway? You really need a new one."

"It's not mine. I'm just...keeping it for a friend."

"Well I'm sure they wouldn't miss it. It's shredded and stained! And it's not that flattering, Haley. It makes you look like a boy. I thought you had better judgement than that."

Haley sat back down on the bed. "Look, it's Jake's. He...met up with No Face a few months back. We haven't seen him since." She held up the jacket. "This is all we could find."

Meagan joined her on the bed. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine."

"But...why wear something that reminds you of something so sad?"

"Because it reminds me to try harder. Jake was always better than me in a fight, and if he wasn't good enough then there's no way I am."

"Well, maybe you don't have to be. You won't be alone."

* * *

Damian layed back on the top bunk. "So, have we reached a decision yet?"

"I don't know, Damian" said Alex as she paced back and forth. "They're not even _human!_"

"So? I spent so much time with Bridie. She seemed human to me."

"That's just part of the act!" she screamed.

"Bridie's just like any other girl, but with a little more bite..."

"DUDE she could _roast _you alive!" Daniel yelled.

"I'm with Damian on this one. I spent a lot of time with Fred and it didn't seem like an act to me" said Sandi.

"Oh, you just liked that he called you 'mate'."

"Can't we just give them a chance? If it doesn't work out, we'll turn on them" Sandi suggested.

"Fine. We'll do it."

There was a knock on the door, and seven dragons flew in. "Have you made up your mind?"

Damian hopped off the top bunk and looked right at Bridie. "We'll help you. And I'm fine with the whole lizard thing. I...I like reptiles!"

"Alright lover boy, when we're done killing wizards, you and the Brit can make out" said Alex, pulling him back.

"Come on, let's go! He'll be there in about a half hour."

Each hunter jumped on the back of a dragon and they headed straight for the enchanted elevator.

Andam met them as they stepped off the lift, and Rose greeted him with a cocky grin. "Did I deliver, or what?"

**So...did it suck? Or am I just being my usual negative self? I think it sucks...please tell me I'm wrong. =)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I am really sorry this took so long. I got busy with school and then...excuses of course. Mostly I forgot. And then I had this whole huge mess with my other story and I accidently deleted a bunch of stuff and now...here it is. I reworked the last chapter because I didn't like what it left me to work with, so some is the same but I changed some things and the ending is completely different. Hopefully this chapter's ending makes up for the long hiatus. So sorry about that again!**

* * *

"We all knew this day was coming. The great and terrible wizard, the faceless one, is coming here. He aims to win our base; to take our center of command from us. But we will not fall. He underestimates our collective power, but I don't…" Andam snapped his fingers and the display changed behind him. "We've divided you into smaller teams. Each unit is under the command of one of our senior dragons. You will find the units posted on the screen behind me along with a location. You will meet your groups at said locations immediately." He paused for a moment and said, "and please, _please…._be careful. My fair children. I pains me greatly to bring you here to fight. If I could, I would have you return home now. But we must protect our island. Our records and artifacts must not fall into their hands. The future of our kind lies on your shoulders. Good luck. "

"No pressure or anything," Megan muttered.

"Don't you worry, kid. You'll do great." Haley ruffled her hair.

She pushed her hand away and peered up at her, eyes wide. "You really think we can beat him?"

Haley gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Of course. Now, head to your post." The kid ran off, and Haley suited up with the rest of her group. She and a handful of other guardian dragons had been assigned to guard the main building, with the armory and records. They worried No Face would access the files and wipe out future dragons and bloodlines. They also wished to keep all their most powerful artifacts out of his hands.

Haley caught up with Rose by the front. "This is it" she said grimly. "We're fighting the man who took Jake."

"We'll get him Haley. Don't you worry."

Haley hugged her friend tight. "Yeah…we will."

Rose pulled away and joined her team, and Haley joined her own. Their commander was already talking strategies. "We'll be taking on the first wave. Our objective is to take out as many as possible before they make it to the inner island. From what our scouts have been able to gather, the first wave will be the grunts – trolls and such. Mostly mindless brute force. We'll be attacking from a distance if we can manage. Go in row by row, giving it all you've got. Burn those idiots to a crisp" he said with a grin.

Sixteen year old Fred Nerk – Australian dragon, was in charge of her unit. Haley was fairly familiar with him. He had long had a friendly rivalry with Jake, and had become something of a family friend. Haley was confident in his abilities. He was quite a fighter.

Fred marched them off to their site, Haley by his side. "Nervous?" he asked.

"You're not?"

Fred grinned. "Me? Nah. We got this. We've trained long and hard for this fight. We're ready."

"But he's had just as much time to train."

"Yeah…_but, _for him it isn't personal. He's attacked our friends, now he's attacking our home. We'll be fighting harder, because we have more at stake."

Haley let that sink in. There was a _lot _at stake today. People could die. _She _could die. Would that be enough motivation? Could they really win?

"Here they come. Get ready."

Haley looked up at the oncoming army. Sure enough, they'd reached the shores.

"Ready?"

"Not really." Haley took a deep breath and pushed off.

"Head straight for that first group. Give it all you've got!"

Fred flew out ahead, the others close behind. Each were to take a row for themselves.

Haley flew low just above the heads of the trolls. Pushing all morals out of her mind, she took a deep breath and let it all out. Heat surged up through her throat, encasing the trolls in a blast of flames. Haley braced herself for the tortured cries and burning skin.

But none came.

She, along with the rest of her unit who'd noticed the same thing, pulled back to figure out what'd happened.

They'd hit their mark, dead on. The sand on the shore had a thin layer of glass over the top, and the surrounding shrubbery was blackened and smoking.

But the trolls?

Untouched.

"Fall back!" Fred shouted. They regrouped several yards back. "So it seems...the army is fireproof. No big deal...right?"

So they tried the next strategy. Three unicorns ended up dead. The army? Unscathed. Once again they regrouped and replanned. Plan after plan failed, each failure leaving them tired and discouraged.

The 2nd wave was heading in now, spreading out across the island.

* * *

"Arthur, concentrate. It is a difficult spell."

"Hey, I mean I'll give it a shot." Spud drew his wand from his back pocket. He took a deep breath. He stumbled through latin incantations and raised his wand arm. The apple sitting on the table quivered, paled in color, but then snapped back to red and was still. Spud let out a breath he'd been holding and groaned. "I can't." Melora headed for the door. "Where are you going?"

"We're finished for today" she said curtly.

"Help me!"

The girl stopped at the door. "Only you can do that, Arthur. I chose you for a reason. Figure it out."

* * *

"Sir, the enemy is approaching."

"What of the front lines?"

"A few injuries, though most fell back."

"Have we been given the signal?"

"Whenever you're ready."

"And No Face?"

"Heading the fight."

Rose and her little troop inched forward in the trees. "In and out," she whispered. "Hit and run, don't be hit."

"Hit and run, don't be hit" Damian repeated to himself. He was ready. Ready to prove himself. Ready to redeem himself.

Hard and swift, like the ninja he dressed as, he swung down from his branch taking out three goblins and a troll from behind before swinging back into the tree unnoticed. It was just as he remembered, but now for the other side. The idea of fighting for the dragons was slightly unsettling, but he'd realized they'd never given him a good reason for distain. And, he trusted his commander.

It felt good to get back into the swing of things. The thrill of the hunt. The adrenaline rush of a kill. The side of him who had grown up a soccor player was perturbed by this refound love of killing, but the other side was almost relieved. It had been a long time. He had missed it.

He sliced through the neck of another goblin, smirking at the confusion of those around him. He was too fast from them. They had no idea what was happening. Around him, his teammates did the same. They spread out across the perimeter, like monkeys through the trees.

Rose however held back. Her eyes were on the prize. No Face. Take down the leader, everything falls to pieces.

The man was in her sight. He was far more frightening in person. An aura of death and fear seemed to seep from his every pore, shaking her to her core. It was paralyzing. This was the man they were training against? Perhaps coming here was a mistake…she looked to her team. She'd brought them here, away from the comforts of their homes, their old lives, to be killed in battle by the embodiment of evil itself. Maybe she should send them home…

No. They were needed here.

She was needed here.

She could not be afraid. She had to be brave. One deep breath, and she attacked.

Flipping down from the branch, she kicked him right in the side of the head, flipped off, and landed safely on the ground behind him. He turned slowly, readjusting, cracking his neck. Though his face was covered, she could _feel _his gaze weighing down on her.

[more fighting, his cover gets torn a bit-she sees his eyes. "she met his eyes and felt the temperature drop from the cold stare" _maybe I should fall back…_no. she would do this]

Wand at the ready, No Face slammed her with a blast of light knocking her to the ground. She jumped to her feet and ran back in, plasma disks hitting him square in the chest. She flipped up, legs wrapping around the back of his neck, and stabbed her dagger into his back with all her strength.

He…wasn't even shaken. A fist closed around her neck. Rose began to panic. The blade had gone in several inches…may not have been lethal but should have slowed him down. He held her by the neck against the tree, kicking and squirming. He was too strong. She couldn't get out of his grasp. That had never happened to her before. How was he this strong? It wasn't possible.

No Face reached back with his other hand and pulled out the knife.

He brought the bloodied blade to her face, savoring the fear in her eyes. She squirmed, hands stretching up the tree trying to reach something-anything to help her.

A searing pain erupted in her stomach, metal tearing through flesh, and she stopped struggling. Everything hurt too much and she couldn't breathe. The pain rocketed again and she saw him bringing the knife to his nose, inhaling deeply the aroma of blood. He shrugged and brought the knife back to her chest. _I'm dead._

Before he could finish the deed, purple flashed across the scene taking the wizard with it. _Haley. _Rose pushed her wounded body into an upright position, keeping pressure on the wound. Haley was putting up a good fight, but, like Rose, her attacks seemed to have no effect. He wasn't reacting to her firepower, and she was throwing everything she had at him.

Everything around her was getting hazy, black creeping through the edges of her vision. _No. Not now. Haley needs help. I need to get help. _

The wizard stumbled back, and red was spreading across his chest. Something she did worked. He pushed her off, staggering, staring at the blood on his hands. He was shaking violently as he pulled his wand out, summoning a portal, and stepped through.

And as Rose blacked out, she saw a small figure in a red jacket slip through behind him.

* * *

No Face stumbled through the portal into a dark alley way, and Haley lurked behind him in the shadows. She followed him through the alley to a large black door. He pounded on it and was met by an old shriveled goblin. They slipped inside, Haley right behind.

Haley hid inside an empty crate and peered out through the gaps in the planks. They were in the storage room of a shop, with shelves upon shelves lined with small glass vials. A few shelves held food rations, but most held those vials, some deep red, others silver, a few milky white.

No Face poured the entire contents of a red bottle and a silver one down his throat. He tossed the empty bottles aside with a satisfied sigh. "Cutting it close there, big guy." The goblin smirked and held out his hand.

No Face begrudgingly handed over a few gold coins. "The hunter jumped me. Got me in the back, and the stuff was already wearing off when this kid got me."

"These are a bunch of kids we're talking about."

"Some of them are craftier than others," he mumbled, walking towards the box Haley hid in. She held her breath, her heart pounding like a six year old on Whack-A-Mole. "But not crafty enough." He pulled her out by the throat. His knife was drawn, and he brought it to the head of his squirming captive. She bit her lip, not willing to let him hear her scream, as he cut along her temple drawing blood. He brought the crimson blade to his mouth and ran his tongue along the blade, sighing in satisfaction. "I love a fresh catch."

Thinking fast, Haley took advantage of the momentary lack of grip. She bit down into his hand as hard as she possibly could. His grip slacked in his shock, and she _ran. _Wings growing on the way. The big black door was locked, so she headed down the hallway to the left. There had to be another exit. Wings flapping furiously, she took turn after turn going deeper into the maze of hallways.

Right.

Left.

Forward.

* * *

_"Rose? What are you doing here? What's wrong?"_

The waves hurricained around him, crashing down on the sides sweeping up stray pool equipment. Everything was in his control. His to command.

* * *

_Don't stop now. Keep going. Can't stop. He'll find you._

* * *

_"Spud I need your help."_

Lightning struck through the open window, flowing through the water. It fried everything in sight, but he was untouched.

* * *

Trolls. They caught up.

She couldn't keep going.

One raised a club. She braced herself for the blow, but when it came, it wasn't Haley that hit the floor.

Someone else had taken the blow.

She scrambled to her feed and rolled over the figure to see the face of her savior.

* * *

He was in power. He was unstoppable.

He had to be.

He had to help.

_"Haley."_

* * *

"Jake?"


	8. Chapter 8

**In case you missed the update (still don't know how these things work), I redid chapter 7 sometime last week. What I'd written last year just didn't work. Anyway...enjoy?**

There he was, right in front of her. Jake. Alive. Bleeding and unconscious, but _alive. _It was too good to be true. She wrapped her arms around him tight, as if to prove to herself that he was real.

The trolls grunted towards him, one of them moving for him. Before Haley could do anything about it they'd grabbed him by the wrist to take him away.

No.

NO.

She'd just gotten him back. She'd just discovered he was alive.

NO.

She wouldn't lose him again.

She gripped tighter as his limp body was lifted up, wings flapping her hardest to pull him away. "Let go! He's mine! Let him go!"

Haley felt a pair of arms wrap around her middle and pry her off. "NO!" The troll took Jake away. Down the hallway. Into the maze. Gone.

She turned to the person who pulled her away, a twenty year old boy covered in filth, and began punching him repeatedly. "You let them take him! He's gone! He's gone he's gone he's gone." She hadn't realized she was crying until it became downright sobbing. The boy tightened his grip on her, but it was not threatening. It was comforting. She broke down, sobbing into his shoulder. "He's gone."

The boy rubbed circles on her back. "He's okay, kid." He spoke with an English accent, hoarse from dehydration, but somehow still charming. He helped her to her feet. "How about I introduce you to everyone? I'm Charlie. Been here about a year. The rest of the gang is back in the room. Shall we?"

"I guess." She wiped away her tears and followed.

"So how do you know Jake? Friend of yours?" he asked.

"Brother.

"OH! So you're Haley, then. We've heard loads about you. The kid talks about you quite often."

"Really? He talks about me?"

"All the time."

They arrived at a large black door like the one she first snuck through, propped open with a shoe. "Well, here we are." They went in. Inside were five other kids, all filthy and exhausted and at various levels of starvation. Charlie threw down his bag. "Alright gang. Supper's here!" Grimy hands searched the bag, pulling out half eaten sandwhiches, chicken skins, and mangled meats, chowing down as they stared at the new girl. "Everyone, we've got another poor sucker in our midst. Haley. Jake's sister."

"Alright so what's up here? Someone going to explain?" she asked.

"Well," Charlie started, "this here is Dante." He pointed at a Fillipino boy. "This pretty little lady is Cecilia, her beautiful friend here is Adele." The girls smiled at her and said hello. "Then we've got Hans and Daniel."

"The seven deaths…" she muttered.

"Not so dead after all, huh? We've been stuck here the whole time. Jake was the first. By the time I joined him, he'd already figured out all the tricks. If it weren't for him, things around here would be a lot worse." Charlie ruffled her hair. "Your brother is a tough kid. I thought I had more experience with more years on him, but he's got me beat. And from what I hear, that's something you two share."

"Oh I don't know about that…"

"I think you'll find yourself much needed here-oh…"

The trolls were back. Headed for Haley. One grabbed her round the middle and started for the door. Charlie yelled after her. "It'll be fine! They're just processing you! Don't fight it! It'll only make it worse!"

And with that, they took her away.

XXX

Spud led Rose down the alley to a suspicious looking shop. "I've tracked her here. There's no way in though. It's all magic proof. We'll need to find a back entrance."

"Good work, Spud. Now we find out who this is. Sounds like they're heading back. Surprise attack?"

"Sounds good."

They hid behind the trash can as an old wrinkled goblin hobbled out, a large bag on his back. "Go!" The two jumped out, giving him a fright. He was far too fast for them to catch, quickly disappearing behind the large door. But one bottle fell from his bag in the rush. Rose took a whiff. No…no it couldn't be. Not willing to believe what she was pretty much sure was true, she put the bottle away. "Let's take this to Fu."

XXX

Cold metal beneath her, cuffs restricting each limb.

She was terrified.

What was going on?

Another goblin crawled onto the table, standing on her stomach. He held a syringe filled with a milky white liquid. No…was that? It was. Sphinx milk. Despite Charlie's warnings she fought against her restraints. Dragon scales replaced human skin and her claws went wild. She wasn't safe here. No one was. She had to escape and bring help, or she'd become defenseless. That's why no one could escape. That's why they didn't need that much security. No one could escape. Not after this. She was restrained too well. She couldn't do anything.

The needle entered her soft underbelly. The toxins flowed in. Her body convulsed, toxins pumping through her veins. Painfully, she turned back. Everything still hurt, but it hurt her human body less.

The lights above her burned her retinas. Her limbs felt twenty times heavier, and she could feel her powers hiding deeper and deeper inside of her. Out of reach of the toxins, and out of reach to her.

The room was spinning, and she thought she felt an IV slip in. She saw red…red running through the tube, filling a bag by the table.

Then, she passed out.

XXX

"Yup…dragon's blood." Fu grimaced.

"That's how they're so powerful. They're spiked up on dragon blood" Rose said.

"What's that mean?" Spud asked.

"It means he's practically invincible…fireproof. Super strong. He has the strength of a dragon. But it also means he has a dependence."

"So…?"

"It means, cut off his supply, we can break him."

Xxx

The Longs were quite a sight to see. Jake-bruised, concussed, covered in three layers of dirt-held his little sister in his arms. Haley's body shook, sphinx milk pumping through her system. Three pints of blood missing from her body, the girl was ready to pass out. She couldn't keep herself upright; everything was spinning.

They were a sorry looking bunch, the Longs.

But they both couldn't stop smiling.

* * *

**Well, I am an awful person, but this is where we end. This is as much closure as I feel like giving because I am a completely awful human being. **

**At some point, I'll write a sequel to this and finish what I started properly. Thanks for reading this train wreck through to the end! It means a lot.**


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